ST. PAUL, Minn. – Despite a 20/20 performance from junior
Lilah Van Scoyoc, the St. Olaf College volleyball team was edged in five sets (20-25, 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 15-6) by the University of Dubuque to open the KTIS Classic on Friday at Ericksen Center on the campus of the University of Northwestern.
Van Scoyoc had a career-high 22 kills and matched her career high with 20 digs to help St. Olaf (2-3) force a fifth set after dropping sets two and three, but Dubuque (6-0) committed just one error, compared to eight for the Oles, in the decider to remain unbeaten. The Spartans received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll. St. Olaf was playing without two members of its starting front row due to injury.
Van Scoyoc's 22-kill, 20-dig performance was the first 20/20 match by an Ole since Summer Reid '21 tallied 22 kills and 23 digs in a five-set defeat at the College of Saint Benedict on Oct. 20, 2017. The junior's 21 kills were one more than her previous high total of 21 in a four-set victory over Hamline University on Sept. 28, 2024, while the 20 digs matched her career high established in a four-set win at Dubuque on Sept. 13, 2024.
After breaking into the top 10 in program history on opening weekend, senior
Morgan Ryan moved up to ninth all-time at St. Olaf in career digs by making 25 to bring her career total to 1,420 and pass Shannah Olson '03. First year
Mehsa Krause joined Van Scoyoc in double figures in kills with 12, while senior
Paige Christophersen logged a 28-assist, 18-dig double-double.
Van Scoyoc tallied six kills in the opening set to help St. Olaf to a 25-20 set win that was aided by 11 attack errors by Dubuque, which hit -.061 in the set. The Oles led by just one at 18-17 before winning seven of the final 10 points of the set, with five of the seven points coming on hitting errors by the Spartans.
Dubuque limited St. Olaf to a .000 attack percentage in the second set to level the match at a set apiece and won the third by hitting .483 with just one attack error and 15 kills to take a two-sets-to-one lead. The Oles had 15 kills of their own and hit .387 in the third set but could not slow down the Spartans' offense, which got three or more kills from four different hitters.
In the fourth, Dubuque appeared headed to a four-set victory by opening up a 7-1 lead early on and leading 22-19 late in the set, but St. Olaf closed the set on a 6-0 run to stay alive. Junior
Evelyn Kreft picked up kills on two of the first three points of the run to help push the match to a deciding set.
The Oles began the fifth set with a Dubuque attack error followed by a kill by Krause but won just four points the rest of the way. The Spartans used runs of 5-0 and 6-0 in the set to pull away and finish off the five-set victory.
St. Olaf will face two more teams that are either ranked or received votes in the AVCA national poll on day two of the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 6. The Oles will start the day against the host Eagles at 11 a.m. before taking on No. 17-ranked Millikin University at 1:30 p.m.
